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tv   Al Jazeera World News  LINKTV  January 6, 2013 5:30am-6:00am PST

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>> the syrian president makes his first public appearance in months calling for a national mobilization to fight rebels. you are watching al jazeera. here are the top stories. suspected taliban fighters are among 16 killed in the u.s. drone strikes in pakistan. loyalists battled riot police in northern ireland in a dispute over the british union flag. the egyptian president shuffles
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the cabinet of the country faces economic turmoil. this is the first time president assad has offered a comprehensive plan to end the conflict in syria. the crowds chanted "we will defend you" as he entered. adjusted a conference of reconciliation -- he suggested a conference of reconciliation and a new constitution. >> this is what is going to preserve syria in the future and its politics and economics. in order to agree on new laws to protect and run the parties.
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we will have a referendum. thirdly, we have an expanded government which carries out the national charter. fourthly, we will put it to the people in the conference of dialogue to agree to the laws, including a loss for election. anything to do with the constitution and law, people can say in the conference of dialogue if the government can carry out whatever is agreed on. a new government to be set up in accordance with the
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constitution. also, we have a general congress to have reconciliation and give amnesty to everyone in prison and preserve the civil rights. thirdly, to work to reestablish the infrastructure and compensate people who have suffered damages. >> we're joined in the studio but a number of the syrian national coalition. that is his first speech in months. >> i heard in the rhetoric -- i heard empty rhetoric. he spent the first part of the speech saying there are no partners for a critical solution. then he offered a political solution that called for crushing the opposition so he could have a free hand in
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controlling the country. he did not operate -- he did not offer to step down. that has to be there to start negotiations. listening to him, he talked about syria and equated syria with himself. defending syria is equal to defending himself and his control. it shows us is a dictator that cannot be negotiated with. ultimately, it will be a win and lose situation. >> he says he is looking for partners witwhom to discuss a way out of the conflict. who do you think he considers appropriate? >> he does not consider anyone appropriate. he did not recognize the opposition. he said there were no partners. he used the metaphor of a single person looking for a mate. i think he has no idea or desire
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to step down to relinquish power. he wants to stay in control and crashed his opposition. he hopes he can stay over for the next four years like his father did. >> you do not see anything new coming out of the speech. how do you see the situation moving forward? >> it will be a fight to the end. the syrian people will suffer greatly. he has all the support he wants from the russians and iranians. the opposition have not been getting enough support to win this battle. our friends have wavered. they are not clear about what to do next. they do not want to give enough support so he can be taken out of his position. >> we are seeing a lot of military maneuvers by the u.s. and e.u. in terms of moving arsenals to the turkish border
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region of syria. >> maybe these are the anti- missile defenses. i am not aware of a large contingency of people moving their to suggest there is an idea of intervention. it does not seem like intervention is on the radar. >> we will leave it there. thank you for joining us. pakistan says indian troops have killed a soldier in the disputed region. two sides exchanged fire across the line of control that is an internationally recognized border. india is accusing them of violating the cease-fire. the u.s. drone strike killed 16 people in northern pakistan. it comes days after another drought attack killed a top rebel leader in the area. pakistani intelligence officers say. taliban hideouts were targeted on sunday.
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>> according to reports, u.s. drone strikes on at least three different targets in the tribal territory leaves at least 16 people killed on the ground after 10 missiles were fired by the drones operating over the territory. in another incident on the eastern border, the pakistani military issued communication saying one of their positions came under attack by indian forces. at least two pakistani soldiers were wounded. one later succumbed to his own words. according to the pakistanis, they will retaliate with the military. >> two suicide bombers have attacked the community building in afghanistan. for two people died in explosions in can the hearth. 15 others were injured.
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there will be trouble council meeting. the video posted on a social media website allegedly shows the use of two taliban members by the afghan army. a military spokesman says it will be investigated. you may find some of the pictures disturbing. >> in a village, the afghan army and police are about to send villagers a clear warning. chained to the back of their vehicles are the corpses of two men. on the tape, they say the men were taliban fighters from pakistan. one person can be heard, do not say this. his pleas are ignored. the video was shot with the last six months and recently uploaded to the internet. the afghan army spokesman is promising a full investigation. >> when i first saw the video, i
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was shocked and surprised. if this is true, it is immoral. whoever did this should be dealt with according to the law. they have to obey the international laws. i have handed this over to the army criminal investigation department. >> there are almost 200,000 afghan soldiers. a higher rate of desertion and low reenlistment means 1/3 have to be replaced every year. that means a lot of inexperienced young man on the battlefield. >> the afghanistan forces do not only need to know how to shoot. they need to know beyond how to shoot. in terms of military tactics and to be a patriot, to know to fight for the country, and during that fight to consider human-rights in recent u.s. department of defense report stated only one of 23 italians
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is ready to fight alone without help from nato forces -- only one of 23 battalions is ready to fight alone with help from nato forces. the u.s. military has had its own of isolated cases. is the afghan forces that will take over complete responsibility for security in this country. to help them do that, they need to win the respect of the population. >> rebels in the central african republic have occupied two more towns ahead of peace talks in the next few days. that is despite calls from the international community to pull out of the captured territories. the coalition of militias have taken two towns. reports say government soldiers put up no resistance. reports from northern ireland say shots were fired at the police in a third night of violent protests. loyalists fought with officers
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in east belfast over the decision to stop flying the british union flag. one man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. this report is from northern ireland. >> for all of these excesses of the peace process, sectarian anger simmers. for a third day, clashes between police and british loyalists continued into the night on saturday. the loyalist groups are infuriated by the city council decision in december to restrict the flying of the union flag to designated days of the year. they see it as an attack on their cultural links to the united kingdom. on saturday, a largely peaceful demonstration outside city hall turned violent. police faced around 100 protesters. officers confirmed they had been
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shot at. one man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. again, police used water cannons to clear the streets. it is in the port areas of the city where there are explosive results. >> in belfast, things are bad. high unemployment. a since the politics are going against them. a sense that catholics are their rivals and doing well with the newer administration we have had going for seven or eight years. >> politicians have condemned the violence, mindful that it damages the international reputation as it struggles to attract investment. public disorder is a far cry from the dead the conflict that paralyzed northern ireland four decades. memories are fresh. most would rather the violence stayed in the past.
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al jazeera, northern ireland. >> still ahead on al jazeera, a show of support for hugo chavez. he is reelected to lead the national assembly. >> most of what was in stock is now destroyed. >> farmers have damaged crops and mounting debt in sri lanka. >> welcome back. if you have travel plans toward turkey, it will be extremely snowy the next several days. look at all the white encompassing most of turkey. that will be snow. especially to the north, we expect to see a mid-40's
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centimeters of snow falling in the next two days. that will cause trouble the latest -- that will cause trouble -- that will cause travel delays. the rain in london is at bay. paris will have more sunshine. the temperature in london will be nine degrees. along the northern coast of egypt, we saw rain pushing through the last couple days. it is going to the east. israel has seen over 80 millimeters of rain in 24 hours. the rain will continue. we're talking about parts of lebanon and syria seeing heavy rain. snow be a problem in the higher elevations. benghazi, 18 degrees. tripoli, 17 degrees. i want to take youthursday at 9.
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>> the top stories on al jazeera. the syrian president has offered a wide-ranging peace plan. he laid out a proposal including a reconciliation conference, a new constitution, and a new government. the australian -- a start has killed 16 people in pakistan. three taliban hideouts were targeted. reports from northern are less safe shots were fired at police.
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loyalists fought with officers in east belfast over the city council decision to stop flying the british union five-year round. the egyptian president has sworn in a new cabinet aimed at fixing the faltering economy. morsi has been under pressure to arrive sliding value of the currency. talk us through the changes that have been made. >> we have seen 10 new ministers brought in, the majority from different economic portfolios. that is not surprising given the president and prime minister have been talking about this for a while. it was presented to the public as an attempt to have -- help the faltering economy. three ministers had resigned. the biggest surprise was the stacking of the ministry of the
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interior. lots of speculation from the opposition as to why that happened. many of the opposition saying perhaps islamist groups were not happy with the performance when it came too violent protests outside the presidential palace last month and the torching of the offices of the moslem brotherhood and the freedom and justice party. >> you say this change is aimed at fixing the economy. is the imf loan back on track after the delay? >> we heard from the minister of finance before taking the oath, saying the cabinet is ready to return to talks. we are expecting the imf officials back in the country on monday. president morsi is chairing the meeting of the cabinet with the main interest is being economic topics and the resumption of
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negotiations with the imf. >> the venezuelan national assembly has reelected the ailing hugo chavez. he is due to this one back into office on thursday. complications from his latest round of cancer surgery may prevent him from attending. >> in its first session of the year, the national assembly was surrounded by the color red. the color of the revolution. he was easily reelected as the president of the legislative body. if chavez is unable to return, he would play a crucial role in guiding the country to and new elections. he reaffirmed the government's position other officials have been repeating in recent days.
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>> the president enjoys a leave of absence under the constitution. we will make sure the leave of absence is respected. you can twist it however you want. but it will not be an opportunity to overturn the will of the people. >> judging by the reaction outside, many venezuelans agreed. crowds cheered as the vice president addressed them with a familiar cry. for these people, in good job as will continue to be president of venezuela. -- for these people, hugo chavez will continue to be president of venezuela. the opposition says the government is not telling the whole truth about his condition. some insist new elections should be held if he is not bought by january 10. >> of the ball is in the government's court.
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they live. -- they lie. our role is to put pressure on them so the alarms go off. >> the information minister told al jazeera the opposition is determined to remove chavez from power. >> opposition groups are fighting each other for power. they want to make it look like there is a constitutional crisis. that is not the case. >> the coming days will be crucial for venezuela. if chavez continues to struggle for his life, his supporters are doing everything they can to ensure the socialist revolution goes on. >> the father of the woman gang raped in india wants to reveal her name. he says her life been inspiration to others. the 23-year-old died last month
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after the brutal attack. dna has linked the suspects to the incident. >> just as demand for the 23- year-old woman who died of her injuries after being raped on a bus. the attack was described on indian television. he said the police did not act lost enough. >> police vehicles arrived. they wasted time debating about which police station's jurisdiction the case file. >> they have denied these claims. they say they arrived at the scene within three minutes of receiving dealer. >> it should be clarified the vans are not concerned with jurisdiction and are controlled by others. they responded to distress calls in respect of jurisdiction.
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>> five men have been charged with the woman's murder. authorities are holding a sixth suspect expected to be tried in juvenile court. a pretrial hearing was held describing how they intended to destroy evidence. bloodstains found on clothing not the blood of the victim. the victim's brother was quoted as saying a delay in providing medical treatment perhaps caused her death. the woman was moved to a hospital in singapore to 11 days after she was raped. the prosecutor said the summary from the hospital confirmed her death was caused by speticemia and organ failure. it is reported to have to remove part of her vital organs because she was attacked with an iron bar. >> supplies to china were cut off for several hours on saturday after industrial chemicals contaminated the river. an accident at a factory caused
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tons of toxic material to leak into the water. it is not clear how many people were affected. chinese state television says the supply is running again. police in australia say they are fearing people reported missing could be dead. almost 3000 people have been forced to leave their homes. many are stranded in shelters. australia is experiencing a heat wave with record high temperatures. farmers in sri lanka are facing mounting debt after severe weather destroyed their crops. the drought was followed by severe flooding. farmers out how the are coping. >> the rodding feels her all that is left of his rice farm. --the rotting fields are all that is left of his rice farm. it is leaving farmers in a desperate state.
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>> we cannot pay our debt. we have mortgaged our property. we have to borrow money to plant. we have no way to pay it back. >> he is not alone. hundreds of others are also struggling to cope. this meetings of intense discussion about crop damage in compensation. the farmers angry about the mismanagement of water resources and the failure of authorities to properly maintain irrigation tanks. most feel helpless in the face of nature's power. >> we cannot fight the weather, drought, floods, or rain. we have to face them. we are at the mercy of nature. >> the cost of the damage is still being assessed. the devastation is not limited to cultivation. the owners of this rice mill say
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their losses are over $1.5 million. >> the smell is almost unbearable. most of the 3 million pounds of stock is destroyed. >> we tried to save as much stock as possible from getting destroyed. the water rose so fast there was little we could do. >> the changing weather patterns have caused havoc with crop circles'. farmers do not know what to expect. >> it does not rain because of climate change. we're not getting water for irrigation. >> article to the authorities say they are researching other varieties -- agricultural authorities say the our research and other varieties of rice. al jazeera in sri lanka. >> ruined crops around the world
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could raise food prices and lead to political instability in 2013. this is part of our series looking ahead to this year's big stories. we take a look at the impact of the year of the stormy weather. >> the weather of 2012 will affect many people willing to 2013. there were hugely damaging disasters. a series of cyclones left thousands homeless in southern africa and madagascar. in october, hurricane sandy swept through the caribbean and slammed into the east coast of the u.s. causing an estimated $60 billion worth of damage. in december, powerful typhoon caused the death of over 1000 people in the philippines. the areas affected by these
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disasters will be recovering for many months. there were less dramatic events that are likely to affect almost everyone in 2013. that is because many places hit by destructive weather in 2012 are the same places that produce our food. the u.s. suffered its worst drought in 50 years. the summer was so bad as some people compared it to the drought of 1936 at the height of the dust bowl era. russia also suffered a crippling drought. europe did not fare better
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